Identifying if your computer is adequate to run Dragon NaturallySpeaking

To figure out the capacities of your system, first download CPUZ 1.55, a free program that will test your systems properties.  The download location is: 

http://www.cpuid.com/downloads/cpu-z/1.59-setup-en.exe

After downloading and running the software you will see:

Requirement: CPU: minimum 1 GHz Intel® Pentium® or equivalent AMD processor or 1.66 GHz Intel® Atom® processor. We recommend 1.8 GHz Intel Dual Core or equivalent AMD processor. (IMPORTANT: SSE2 instruction set required)

Looking at CPUZ running on your computer, look at the line, "Core Speed". It must be at least 1024 MHz (1 GHz) or 1716 (1.66 MHz) for a Netbook Intel Atom processor. Our recommendation is for 1800 MHz or more. In the example above you see a speed of 2327.9 which is over 2 GHz.

Look on your computer at the Instructions line. It must include SSE2 to run Dragon. In the example you see SSE(1,2,3,3S,4.1) so it does have the SSE and the "2" set, that is needed to run Dragon.

Click on the "Caches" tab

Requirement: Processor Cache: minimum 512 KB We recommend 2MB

On your computer, look at the L2 Cache line.  That will tell you if you have the minimum requirements of 512 kBytes of cache memory.  Our recommendation is for 2 MB or 2048 KBytes which is the exact amount showing in the example screen above.

Click on the "Memory" Tab

Requirement: RAM: minimum 1 GB for Windows XP and Windows Vista, and 2 GB for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2003/2008. We recommend 2 GB RAM for Windows XP and Windows Vista, and 4 GB for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2003/2008 64-bit

Look on the "Size" line.  The minimum you need is 1024 MBytes (1 GB) for Windows XP and Vista.  The minimum for Windows 7 is 2048 MBytes (2 GB).  The recommended amount is 2048 MBytes for XP and Vista, and 4096 MBytes for Windows 7.  You can see in the example above, 8192 is double the recommended amount.

Click on the "OK" button to close CPUZ.

Now we have to find out if there is enough hard drive space available on your computer.

Requirement:  Free hard disk space: 2.5 GB (2.8 GB for localized non-English versions)

"Right Mouse Click" on the "Start" button, (normally on the bottom left of your computer screen)

"Left Mouse Click" on "Explore"

"Right Mouse Click" on your "C:" drive icon

"Left Mouse Click" on "Properties"

"Free Space" will show how many GB of available space you have on your hard drive. You need at least, 2.5 GB. In this example screen, you see there are 479 GB available, so more than enough space to load Dragon.

Click on "OK" on the Properties window, then click on the "x" at the top right of the Explore page, to close both of them down.

Requirement: Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 6 or higher. 

You can start up Internet Explorer, then click on "Help", then "About Internet Explorer" to see which version you have.  If you don't have version 6 or higher, go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx for a free download to version 6 or higher.

Requirement; Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 or equivalent sound card supporting 16 bit recording.

Most desktop computers have adequate soundcards to run Dragon.

Laptop computers typically have poor soundcards that aren't adequate to run Dragon.  Laptops provide good output to their speakers, but your speech that is brought in through the laptops microphone inputs usually has electronic noise from the laptops internal components, mixed in along with your voice. 

Dragon hears this combination, and like yourself listening to someone in a very noisy room, Dragon will not hear you clearly.  This results in poor recognition and more mistakes appearing in your finished documents.

To fix this, especially for laptops, we suggest installing a USB Soundcard, which is shown on the bottom of our "Microphones and Digital Recorders" web page.  This device plugs into a USB socket on your computer and your microphone plugs into it.  The USB Soundcard becomes an external digital soundcard, providing your voice clearly into Dragon for the best possible recognition of your speech.

Requirement: DVD-ROM drive required for installation

Dragon NaturallySpeaking's installation disk comes on a DVD disc.  Most computers have a DVD drive or a CD and DVD drives.  Especially with the smaller laptops and netbook computers, they don't have any disk drives.

If your computer doesn't have a DVD drive, we can provide a copy of the Dragon installation program on a USB Flash Memory Stick for a small additional charge.  This will allow you to plug-in the Flash Stick, only during the installation of  Dragon, and for any subsequent installations.

Requirement: Nuance-approved noise-canceling headset microphone

All Dragon products come with a headset microphone that works.  We also carry a full line of microphones on our "Microphones & Digital Recorders" page, that allow you to wear your headset in greater comfort.  We also can provide wireless microphones that allow you to use the same headsets to also talk on the phone, and move around without being tethered by wires.

Requirement: An internet connection is required for product activation (a quick anonymous process).

When you run Dragon NaturallySpeaking for the first time, the software requires it to be "Activated", by quickly connecting to the Dragon corporate computer and registering your serial number.  The Dragon software will display a button to "Activate", then shows you options.  When you choose the option "Activate Automatically", Dragon will connect over the Internet for a few seconds, and Dragon will be activated.  Then you will no longer be prompted to do this activation process.  After activating that first time, you no longer will need an Internet connection.

If you don't have an Internet connection where your computer is located, you can start Dragon on five different occasions, then it will lock you out.

If you don't have an Internet connection at your computers site, you can choose to instead of "Activate Automatically", you can "Manually Activate" Dragon.  For the manual process, you would choose to "manually activate" when prompted, and Dragon will display a series of numbers, and a web address.  You copy down that information and go to on a computer that is connected to the Internet.  You go to the supplied Internet address, and type in the numbers.  The website processes those numbers and will provide you with another set of numbers.  You take that second set of numbers, go back to your Dragon installation, type in the supplied numbers and Dragon will be activated.  Dragon will no longer prompt you for activation information, and will not again require any Internet connection. 

If you have any problems figuring out any of these requirements, please contact us through our "Contact" area of our website.  Please describe the problem and we will be able to assist you.